Who’s getting an M1 for Christmas?

[sky87]

I got myself an MBA for Christmas. Well, two MBAs actually, but one is going back (got one with 8GB RAM first, loaded up all my apps, realised I wasn't very comfortable with 8GB RAM, and got another with 16GB RAM). So I'm probably keeping the Space Grey 16GB/1TB!

Wasn't anticipating upgrading so soon, but in the last few weeks-months I was getting more and more beach balls with my 12" MB so it seemed like a good time to upgrade it. Plus, the battery life...

 

[TrueBlou]

That it us true. However, if we are talking strictly home use, I would treat myself to a M1 iMac (instead of a 16" MBP) when released. 😀

While I’ve always been a fan of the iMac, well not always, but ever since I got my G4. It’s nice to have a laptop again.

Performance has been the limiting factor when it comes to my decision to plump for a desktop, until now. While the iMac when it comes will undoubtedly be significantly more powerful than the current M1 laptops, or you would hope so anyway. The fact that these small systems are so capable has opened up doors for me.

Even though I work from home, and have done for 11 years, getting a MacBook has changed things up a bit. Yes, I’ll be able to take my work with me wherever I go, that’s a given and a definite bonus. It’s the use of it at home that will also make a difference to me.

Instead of me sitting in the office for 18 hours a day, and the wife complaining she hardly sees me. I can take this capable wee beastie away from my desk and sit downstairs in the lounge in the evenings, if I still need to work. Could never do that with my iMacs.

So it’s not always a case of home use = desktop, sometimes a laptop can be useful even at home, especially if you’re a workaholic. While that’s always been true, for me it’s never really been a viable enough trade off, until Apple Silicon came along. Even when I had my tricked out 15” MacBook Pro TB it just didn’t cut it for me - and I despised the TouchBar, which ultimately led to its short life with me.

Of course, you could get both, now there’s an even better option. Or, y’know, there’s work less, but eewwwwww 😀

 

[Synna]

I got myself a 13" Space Grey MBP with 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD, but it is not set to arrive until the end of January, so it's going to be a late Christmas present.

 

[TrueBlou]

I got myself a 13" Space Grey MBP with 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD, but it is not set to arrive until the end of January, so it's going to be a late Christmas present.

The waiting just makes it all the more exciting. Well, it did for me anyway. I rather enjoy the anticipation part of the experience. Especially when it’s something as transformative as Apple Silicon.

Reading about it, here and other places, watching videos, thinking about how it could possibly make my life easier. Then being utterly blown away by it when it arrives.

It’s worth the wait, I hope you enjoy it when you get it.

 

[James_C]

Nope, if I'm absolutely honest, it hasn't matched my expectations. It has blown them out of the water and made what I thought would just maybe be possible, look like a complete underestimation of the capabilities.

I was genuinely expecting to be a bit disappointed with certain things, as you mention yourself, I'm the sort of nutter who researches everything to death before making a decision - just so I know what will suit me, and what will disappoint the least - because no matter what you read, or see online, it's never the same as putting it through its paces by yourself.

My iMac is a Late 2015 27" i5 Retina 5K, 1TB SSD, 32GB RAM, can't remember what graphics card I got in it, its already been thrown to the scrap heap 😀
So I was expecting a decent jump in performance with the M1 considering the age of the iMac, but not what I actually got.

I decided on my quest of what to try next, to do what I thought should bring the M1 to its knees and show me its limitations, after all, this made my iMac crumble like badly made shortbread.

Fusion 360. I have some models in that which made my iMac completely unusable - to the point that even if I just wanted to change a position, I would enter new coordinates, then bugger off for 15 minutes or so while it did it. Even on friends newer iMacs, which are considerably more powerful than mine, one model in particular can turn them into beach balling slideshows.

So, I opened that up on the MBA M1 and, well, nothing, no disaster, no slowdown, I can throw the model around the screen and it all happens in real-time. I've literally never seen that before.

After picking myself up off the floor. I opened up another project, then another, then another. With four projects open, I clearly wasn't pushing it enough. So, I duplicated the most complex model, and again, and again, and again, and again, and then I gave up.

I cannot believe, well I can, I've just seen it - though I don't know how it's doing it - how powerful this tiny, fan-less, ARM, 8GB.... 8GB I haven't had an 8GB machine in god knows how many years, I've certainly never had one that can perform these kinds of miracles.

It didn't even get warm, at all, its utter insanity. Even the battery only dropped by 2% during that workout, or, what I thought would be a workout. My wife's 2020 MBA (Intel) blows through it's battery if you ask it to do anything remotely demanding.

There is of course, a lot of testing still to be done, I'm not about to render final judgement from basically 2 main tests. But if this wee bugger can cope with video/photo/vector editing anything like it has Xcode and Fusion 360, I am going to be one happy chappie. That's the bulk of my workload, other than writing, and that I can do on a BBC Micro, so I'm not overly concerned about the MBA managing it 🤣

Oh, and I forgot to mention, that Fusion is running under Rosetta.

Great summary, I know you have been waiting a while to open your Christmas present. Glad that you are enjoying your Mac, your experience sounds just like mine, I have had many Macs over the years since 2002, but this one was like getting a new Mac for the first time.

 

[Quackington]

When I was cranking it up to 4K resolution yeah, I hooked it up to my 4K monitor via a TB3 dock.

I’d love to see a set of remakes for Metroid, before they finally get around to releasing 4. But then, I’m still waiting on a Super Mario World HD remake... a boy can dream 😀

You and me both, hah!! I think you’re the other version of me ;-) The Mario World visuals in the Maker games...I’d happily take that in full HD and widescreen for the original. None of that horrible NSMB aesthetic, please and thank you.

The above said, I’ve not looked but I wonder if the someone in the dev/homebrew community has already done this.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Space Gray MBA 16/1T. Just ordered today using gift cards 🙂 Picking up from the Apple store tomorrow.

Congrats. Let us know what you think about it, once you have had a chance to test it.

 

[Apple_Robert]

While I’ve always been a fan of the iMac, well not always, but ever since I got my G4. It’s nice to have a laptop again.

Performance has been the limiting factor when it comes to my decision to plump for a desktop, until now. While the iMac when it comes will undoubtedly be significantly more powerful than the current M1 laptops, or you would hope so anyway. The fact that these small systems are so capable has opened up doors for me.

Even though I work from home, and have done for 11 years, getting a MacBook has changed things up a bit. Yes, I’ll be able to take my work with me wherever I go, that’s a given and a definite bonus. It’s the use of it at home that will also make a difference to me.

Instead of me sitting in the office for 18 hours a day, and the wife complaining she hardly sees me. I can take this capable wee beastie away from my desk and sit downstairs in the lounge in the evenings, if I still need to work. Could never do that with my iMacs.

So it’s not always a case of home use = desktop, sometimes a laptop can be useful even at home, especially if you’re a workaholic. While that’s always been true, for me it’s never really been a viable enough trade off, until Apple Silicon came along. Even when I had my tricked out 15” MacBook Pro TB it just didn’t cut it for me - and I despised the TouchBar, which ultimately led to its short life with me.

Of course, you could get both, now there’s an even better option. Or, y’know, there’s work less, but eewwwwww 😀

Good points made about home use I failed to consider at the time of my post.

 

[EvilEvil]

I'm going to wait for revision 2 next year. I did get a PS5 and RTX 3080 for myself though 😎

 

[TrueBlou]

You and me both, hah!! I think you’re the other version of me ;-) The Mario World visuals in the Maker games...I’d happily take that in full HD and widescreen for the original. None of that horrible NSMB aesthetic, please and thank you.

The above said, I’ve not looked but I wonder if the someone in the dev/homebrew community has already done this.

There can never be too many of us... Actually, let's keep it at the two, I doubt the world could cope with more than two of us 🤣 🤣

I'm sure I recall someone having started a fan remake of SMW, you'll not be at all surprised to hear that Ninty shut that down pretty quickly though. It would be nice if they were more like Sega when it comes to fan made projects, fill yer boots, just don't profit from it.

On the gaming front, while I'm here, I think I tried something today. I say I think because if I didn't know better, I'd swear I must have been dreaming.

I installed the Parallels beta, installed, updated and set-up Windows for ARM from my Insider account. Then I installed the Epic Games Store and Steam, followed by an install of Borderlands 2.

What came next just can't be real. Yes, it's an older game, but even so I still think it's impressive.

Running the game at 1280x960, V-Sync on and every other setting (bar motion blur, which I don't like in any game, for some reason that, and that alone, can give me motion sickness in some circumstances. God knows why its only that, I've never had it at any other time in my life...Anyhoo....) is on and set to the maximum for each option. First of all, with that lot enabled it all played beautifully, buttery smooth with only a very, very occasional stutter for a second or so.

Impressed that a low wattage, ARM, 8GB, thin and light laptop could run a very early (and openly admitted buggy) version of Parallels, which in turn is virtualising a non-release version of ARM Windows, which is then emulating an x86 Game. I decided to try something I was sure would finally cripple the machine.

I fired up Final Cut Pro, threw in some random footage to create a 4 minute clip, added some random filters and text, then set it to export that to 4K h.264. Then, I switched back over to Parallels and continued my game. I encountered more small stutters during a big gunfight, but only once.

A little over 2 minutes later, I noticed the game was back to buttery smooth, so I swiped back to my desktop. And FCP had finished exporting the clip.... What the actual frankenberry????

Incidentally, Safari was also open with six tabs of various websites and a YouTube one, Music was open and playing, Mail was open - though minimised, and the Activity Monitor was running so as I could have a quick shifty at what was going on. And this was all done on battery power.

This is a MacBook Air for gods sake, a MacBook Air! I am continually impressed by what this wee bugger can do, its witchcraft I tells ya, witchcraft!! And I'm still determined to push it to its limit.
Though at least in that test it got warm, hhhaaaaahhhhh, finally a weakness 😜 though it was still a hell of a lot cooler than when my other halfs 2020 Intel MBA is simply playing a YouTube video in Safari for a while.

The memory pressure spiked into yellow briefly a couple of times, but for the vast majority of the test, it was happily in low, to mid green.

I'm really glad this computer has proven to be quite popular, so other people can verify things. Because even I think some of the things I'm writing, and some of the things I have read, sound like complete and utter fiction.

 

[TrueBlou]

Good points made about home use I failed to consider at the time of my post.

Well, it was just a devils advocate post really. True, but not intended to be argumentative, or deliberately obtuse. Just what life is like in this household. When you're an obsessive, workaholic indie developer and journalist, there just aren't enough hours in the day - Thankfully my nerve damage means I don't sleep much, so I get more hours than most in a day.. Though it also means the meds make me waffle on a bit at times, case in point .... 🤣

But the wife does complain that I'm forever in the office, so making work mobile just gives me that extra freedom to any least be in the same room as family, which is never a bad thing.

 

[A418t81]

Impulse bought an MBA 8c/512gb for my birthday last week since it was available for immediate pickup at the apple store. I'm waiting to replace my 13" MBP with the new model next year, but just wanted to have something M1 to play with until then. When I get the new computer, I'll give this MBA to a family member.

 

[michaelsviews]

Got the Space Grey, with the 512 SSD , did the update and had problems installing extensions and downloading apps from the Appstore, called apple support they had me reinstall the OS. I asked about wiping the drive then doing a fresh install but they said it's not necessary . Did the reinstall seems OK but I don't hold much confidence in it. Installed Kindle it had to install Rosetta 2 then kindle. Going to install VSC, Sublime and see where that goes. Have the 8 GB version but I'm on the fence of returning this and getting a 16GB "Peace of mind". For me I love the smaller track pad and long battery life. Have a 16MBP but going to trade or sell it.

 

[Quackington]

There can never be too many of us... Actually, let's keep it at the two, I doubt the world could cope with more than two of us 🤣 🤣

I'm sure I recall someone having started a fan remake of SMW, you'll not be at all surprised to hear that Ninty shut that down pretty quickly though. It would be nice if they were more like Sega when it comes to fan made projects, fill yer boots, just don't profit from it.

On the gaming front, while I'm here, I think I tried something today. I say I think because if I didn't know better, I'd swear I must have been dreaming.

I installed the Parallels beta, installed, updated and set-up Windows for ARM from my Insider account. Then I installed the Epic Games Store and Steam, followed by an install of Borderlands 2.

What came next just can't be real. Yes, it's an older game, but even so I still think it's impressive.

Running the game at 1280x960, V-Sync on and every other setting (bar motion blur, which I don't like in any game, for some reason that, and that alone, can give me motion sickness in some circumstances. God knows why its only that, I've never had it at any other time in my life...Anyhoo....) is on and set to the maximum for each option. First of all, with that lot enabled it all played beautifully, buttery smooth with only a very, very occasional stutter for a second or so.

Impressed that a low wattage, ARM, 8GB, thin and light laptop could run a very early (and openly admitted buggy) version of Parallels, which in turn is virtualising a non-release version of ARM Windows, which is then emulating an x86 Game. I decided to try something I was sure would finally cripple the machine.

I fired up Final Cut Pro, threw in some random footage to create a 4 minute clip, added some random filters and text, then set it to export that to 4K h.264. Then, I switched back over to Parallels and continued my game. I encountered more small stutters during a big gunfight, but only once.

A little over 2 minutes later, I noticed the game was back to buttery smooth, so I swiped back to my desktop. And FCP had finished exporting the clip.... What the actual frankenberry????

Incidentally, Safari was also open with six tabs of various websites and a YouTube one, Music was open and playing, Mail was open - though minimised, and the Activity Monitor was running so as I could have a quick shifty at what was going on. And this was all done on battery power.

This is a MacBook Air for gods sake, a MacBook Air! I am continually impressed by what this wee bugger can do, its witchcraft I tells ya, witchcraft!! And I'm still determined to push it to its limit.
Though at least in that test it got warm, hhhaaaaahhhhh, finally a weakness 😜 though it was still a hell of a lot cooler than when my other halfs 2020 Intel MBA is simply playing a YouTube video in Safari for a while.

The memory pressure spiked into yellow briefly a couple of times, but for the vast majority of the test, it was happily in low, to mid green.

I'm really glad this computer has proven to be quite popular, so other people can verify things. Because even I think some of the things I'm writing, and some of the things I have read, sound like complete and utter fiction.

I’d not heard of the fan remake of SMW, but I’m not surprised if it got shut down. I was gutted about the Metroid 2 cease and desist, but I managed to download it...I just don’t know where I saved it. From what I’ve heard though, there’s been a few updates since, so I need to track that down.

That Parallels test is impressive, especially for basically everything not running natively. Not just running Borderlands, but having everything else running at the same time too. Bloody ‘eck!

Between your posts and the various impressions I’ve read, I’m leaning towards getting one. The battery life alone is really tempting, I mainly use my laptop untethered. It’s just a shame I only bought an Intel MBP 2020 just a few months ago, upgrading from a 9-year old MBA that has a battery which runs out pretty fast now and the fan goes off when I have a few browser windows open. Part of me regrets not going for the Air instead of the Pro, it’s so much more comfortable to hold.

 

[TrueBlou]

I’d not heard of the fan remake of SMW, but I’m not surprised if it got shut down. I was gutted about the Metroid 2 cease and desist, but I managed to download it...I just don’t know where I saved it. From what I’ve heard though, there’s been a few updates since, so I need to track that down.

That Parallels test is impressive, especially for basically everything not running natively. Not just running Borderlands, but having everything else running at the same time too. Bloody ‘eck!

Between your posts and the various impressions I’ve read, I’m leaning towards getting one. The battery life alone is really tempting, I mainly use my laptop untethered. It’s just a shame I only bought an Intel MBP 2020 just a few months ago, upgrading from a 9-year old MBA that has a battery which runs out pretty fast now and the fan goes off when I have a few browser windows open. Part of me regrets not going for the Air instead of the Pro, it’s so much more comfortable to hold.

I know that feeling all too well, I’ve been caught out by Apple launching new products a few times. Mainly back in the days before I started trawling rumour websites. But even recently, with the wife’s MBA, I knew Apple Silicon was coming, I was pretty sure at least one would be a laptop. Yet I still bought the Intel Air for her at the start of the year, meh 😀

I was surprised with that most recent test. To be fair, a 4 minute 4K clip isn’t exactly pushing the system under normal circumstances. But it was just something quick and easy to throw on top of the Parallels game test at the time.

Even though it was just a quickie, I still expected the Parallels performance to suffer significantly more than it did during that time. But once again the wee bugger had to prove me wrong 🙄

AM2R is a great piece of work, I’ve played through it a few times now. Maybe it’s about time Ninty made a Metroid Maker, in the way they did with Mario to try and combat the rom hacks and fan games. I’d throw some money at that 😀

 

[Quackington]

I know that feeling all too well, I’ve been caught out by Apple launching new products a few times. Mainly back in the days before I started trawling rumour websites. But even recently, with the wife’s MBA, I knew Apple Silicon was coming, I was pretty sure at least one would be a laptop. Yet I still bought the Intel Air for her at the start of the year, meh 😀

I was surprised with that most recent test. To be fair, a 4 minute 4K clip isn’t exactly pushing the system under normal circumstances. But it was just something quick and easy to throw on top of the Parallels game test at the time.

Even though it was just a quickie, I still expected the Parallels performance to suffer significantly more than it did during that time. But once again the wee bugger had to prove me wrong 🙄

AM2R is a great piece of work, I’ve played through it a few times now. Maybe it’s about time Ninty made a Metroid Maker, in the way they did with Mario to try and combat the rom hacks and fan games. I’d throw some money at that 😀

I think I’m mainly annoyed because I try to keep my notebooks going for ages. I reckon I’m gonna let it slide this one time and pick up an M1 next year. If I do, it’ll be the Air.

AM2R, that’s what it’s called! I’d forgotten the name. It’s probably saved on my old MBA or on a hard drive somewhere. Will have to dig it out and see about finding the latest update for it. That said, I remember it being for Windows, so I’ll need to either run it on my ageing Surface or find a workaround for OSX.

I finished Samus Returns at the beginning of last year, I think, so it’ll be good to compare. I know which visuals have my thumbs up though, I prefer the pixelated look. Also, speaking of HD remakes, we totally need a HD Super Metroid!

 

[Synna]

The waiting just makes it all the more exciting. Well, it did for me anyway. I rather enjoy the anticipation part of the experience. Especially when it’s something as transformative as Apple Silicon.

Reading about it, here and other places, watching videos, thinking about how it could possibly make my life easier. Then being utterly blown away by it when it arrives.

It’s worth the wait, I hope you enjoy it when you get it.

Definitely. Since I am also quite busy until mid-January, I wouldn't really have time to appreciate it before anyway and I really want to enjoy taking it for a spin.

 

[TrueBlou]

I think I’m mainly annoyed because I try to keep my notebooks going for ages. I reckon I’m gonna let it slide this one time and pick up an M1 next year. If I do, it’ll be the Air.

AM2R, that’s what it’s called! I’d forgotten the name. It’s probably saved on my old MBA or on a hard drive somewhere. Will have to dig it out and see about finding the latest update for it. That said, I remember it being for Windows, so I’ll need to either run it on my ageing Surface or find a workaround for OSX.

I finished Samus Returns at the beginning of last year, I think, so it’ll be good to compare. I know which visuals have my thumbs up though, I prefer the pixelated look. Also, speaking of HD remakes, we totally need a HD Super Metroid!

Well, when friends and family inevitably ask me for advice - which I admittedly don’t stick to myself very much, but y’know do as I say, not as I do, which I often tack onto the end of advice I give them 😀 - is, if it’s in working order and performs everything you ask of it, do you really need to replace it?

Of course it can be fun and exciting when something as transformative as Apple Silicon comes along. But that doesn’t make every other computer obsolete overnight.
Not to mention, if you’re happy with your current system for now, just think how much more potent Apple Silicon will be by the time you do need a replacement.

I’d love to see some classic Metroid HD remakes, I won’t give up hope on that, they did a lovely job with the Links Awakening remake last year.

There’s probably dozens of classic Ninty games I’d love to see get a modern makeover. As well as tons of others from my yoof, Turrican springs to mind. I don’t need ultra realistic graphics to enjoy something, but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy some eye candy when it’s there.

I still sink a lot of hours into the vast majority of my retro collection, which when you get to my age becomes quite a few systems. There’s enough to keep me going for several lifetimes 😀 I’m writing a series of articles about them, slowly, which gives me a damn good excuse to say to the wife - what? I’m working, as I fire up yet another game 😂

 

[rui no onna]

Well, when friends and family inevitably ask me for advice - which I admittedly don’t stick to myself very much, but y’know do as I say, not as I do, which I often tack onto the end of advice I give them 😀 - is, if it’s in working order and performs everything you ask of it, do you really need to replace it?

This one's never been an issue with my family. I know someone who's replacing a Pentium IV Windows XP desktop just now. She went with an HP AIO (Ryzen) with 4 year Costco warranty.

 

[TrueBlou]

This one's never been an issue with my family. I know someone who's replacing a Pentium IV Windows XP desktop just now. She went with an HP AIO (Ryzen) with 4 year Costco warranty.

Hopefully it’ll give her just as many happy years of service then. I like it when people get good use out of a system. I know some people who are still using old computers as their day to day systems, because they do very little with them. So why spend a pile of money that could be better used elsewhere, particularly under the current circumstances.

I hope she’s keeping the old P IV system, they come in handy... Well, they do if your a geek who likes to tinker about with old software still. Not that I know anyone like that, nope sireee, not driving the wife mental because there’s a pile of 40 odd laptops in the spare room, not me 😉

 

[Quackington]

Well, when friends and family inevitably ask me for advice - which I admittedly don’t stick to myself very much, but y’know do as I say, not as I do, which I often tack onto the end of advice I give them 😀 - is, if it’s in working order and performs everything you ask of it, do you really need to replace it?

Of course it can be fun and exciting when something as transformative as Apple Silicon comes along. But that doesn’t make every other computer obsolete overnight.
Not to mention, if you’re happy with your current system for now, just think how much more potent Apple Silicon will be by the time you do need a replacement.

I’d love to see some classic Metroid HD remakes, I won’t give up hope on that, they did a lovely job with the Links Awakening remake last year.

There’s probably dozens of classic Ninty games I’d love to see get a modern makeover. As well as tons of others from my yoof, Turrican springs to mind. I don’t need ultra realistic graphics to enjoy something, but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy some eye candy when it’s there.

I still sink a lot of hours into the vast majority of my retro collection, which when you get to my age becomes quite a few systems. There’s enough to keep me going for several lifetimes 😀 I’m writing a series of articles about them, slowly, which gives me a damn good excuse to say to the wife - what? I’m working, as I fire up yet another game 😂

Very sound advice. I’m generally not bothered about new product releases, choosing to keep my stuff for as long as possible when it comes to phones and computers. Heck, most of the time I don’t even bother with OS updates. I kept my MBA on Lion (which it came with) for years, as it did everything I needed at a decent speed. Eventually had to upgrade for something, but I can’t remember what it was now.

And yep, I reckon the follow-ups will be even better. Though there’s a niggling part of me that thinks the battery life will get worse.

Agreed, Link’s Awakening looks stunning. I just don’t want something with Super Metroid like doing it in the Samus Returns aesthetic. I don’t think I’ve ever tried Turrican, but I have a feeling it may have been the built-in title that came with the Analog Super NT I bought a couple of years ago (I think that’s what it’s called, just a modern version of the SNES that connects via HDMI and uses actual carts). There was definitely something built in and for some reason this sounds familiar, but I could be wrong.

I’m definitely more of a retro gamer, most of the modern stuff passes me by or perhaps just isn’t for me. To be honest I’ve been a lapsed gamer for a while. It doesn’t stop my collecting habits though!

Good luck with the articles, will be keen to have a read when you’re done.

This one's never been an issue with my family. I know someone who's replacing a Pentium IV Windows XP desktop just now. She went with an HP AIO (Ryzen) with 4 year Costco warranty.

Hah. And here I was thinking I keep tech for ages. I find it quite endearing.

 

[eco.logico]

Hi everyone, it has been a wonderful Christmas with my new MacBook Pro M1 8/512. It's great, fast, quiet and with a never ending battery. I still love my early 2011 MacBook Pro 13” 16GB RAM 1TB SSD, but the new M1 is truly spectacular, the start of a new era, much faster even than my wife's MacBook Pro 15”. I'm glad I got it. Once again Apple leads the way, again with a personal computer

 

[TrueBlou]

Very sound advice. I’m generally not bothered about new product releases, choosing to keep my stuff for as long as possible when it comes to phones and computers. Heck, most of the time I don’t even bother with OS updates. I kept my MBA on Lion (which it came with) for years, as it did everything I needed at a decent speed. Eventually had to upgrade for something, but I can’t remember what it was now.

And yep, I reckon the follow-ups will be even better. Though there’s a niggling part of me that thinks the battery life will get worse.

Agreed, Link’s Awakening looks stunning. I just don’t want something with Super Metroid like doing it in the Samus Returns aesthetic. I don’t think I’ve ever tried Turrican, but I have a feeling it may have been the built-in title that came with the Analog Super NT I bought a couple of years ago (I think that’s what it’s called, just a modern version of the SNES that connects via HDMI and uses actual carts). There was definitely something built in and for some reason this sounds familiar, but I could be wrong.

I’m definitely more of a retro gamer, most of the modern stuff passes me by or perhaps just isn’t for me. To be honest I’ve been a lapsed gamer for a while. It doesn’t stop my collecting habits though!

Good luck with the articles, will be keen to have a read when you’re done.



Hah. And here I was thinking I keep tech for ages. I find it quite endearing.

if you've still got the Analogue Super NT, and still have it installed, definitely check out the Super Turrican game that, as you say, came pre-installed on it. Awesome game, of course I could be biased because I played so much of it on the Amstrad CPC/C64/Amiga/Mega Drive/SNES/PC Engine/GameBoy/CDTV, in my misspent youth, what can I say, I love the series 😀

 

[Quackington]

if you've still got the Analogue Super NT, and still have it installed, definitely check out the Super Turrican game that, as you say, came pre-installed on it. Awesome game, of course I could be biased because I played so much of it on the Amstrad CPC/C64/Amiga/Mega Drive/SNES/PC Engine/GameBoy/CDTV, in my misspent youth, what can I say, I love the series 😀

That’s it, Super Turrican! Yep, I still have the Super NT. I’ve got it packed away at the moment as having too many consoles/portables out gives me anxiety, plus I have space issues. I’m due to get it out at some point soon as some of my carts could do with being fired up again. I’m currently waiting for Analog’s version of the Game Boy to be shipped to me sometime next year when it’s ready...dreading the customs tax on that, hah.

Looks like you’ve played Turrican on everything. Anything pre-SNES(bar the original GB) is mainly before my gaming time, though I remember playing Zool and a Robocop game on something (not sure what) when visiting relatives a long time ago now. It had a keyboard, for sure.

 

[TrueBlou]

That’s it, Super Turrican! Yep, I still have the Super NT. I’ve got it packed away at the moment as having too many consoles/portables out gives me anxiety, plus I have space issues. I’m due to get it out at some point soon as some of my carts could do with being fired up again. I’m currently waiting for Analog’s version of the Game Boy to be shipped to me sometime next year when it’s ready...dreading the customs tax on that, hah.

Looks like you’ve played Turrican on everything. Anything pre-SNES(bar the original GB) is mainly before my gaming time, though I remember playing Zool and a Robocop game on something (not sure what) when visiting relatives a long time ago now. It had a keyboard, for sure.

My office would probably put the pure fear into you then 🤣 I started with a Pong TV game in 1978, so I've been around the gaming scene a while, never lost interest in it, which is why I have so many systems, well, that and crazy parents 😀

I missed out on the Pocket pre-orders, which seriously annoyed me - it does look awesome. But I'll be jumping on it as soon as they become available again early in the new year.

Oh, I forgot to mention, for the articles I’ll be writing, keep an eye on GrownGaming my latest was a review of an awesome multi-cart for the NeoGeo

I did start my series of retro articles almost 2 years ago, with Pong but then a chain of particularly nasty health problems, which I won’t bore anyone with, essentially put me on an extended sabbatical. So I hadn’t really written anything until the review I mentioned. It’s also why I wasn’t around here much for a good while.

But I’m about back to, well, as close to normal as I get 😀 So once the festive season is over, I can start up the retro series again (I’ve only got 80 odd systems to write about), among many other things I have in mind. And at least now that I have the MBA, I can work in bed if I really need to.